


Lions and Clovers

by Lupealonewithquills



Category: Original Work, lions and clovers
Genre: Gen, Monster Hunters, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Werewolves, Witches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:27:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29688816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lupealonewithquills/pseuds/Lupealonewithquills
Summary: Jay Sterling, a monster hunter by trade, is given a job to find a killer in a small hamlet town. When she discovers the true killer and their true agenda, she sets out on a mission to stop them however she can, whether it means she dies trying or not.





	1. Ch. 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to chapter 1 of the actual novel! It probably won't be entirely the best out there, but that's why I'm posting my stories now, to get feedback and back it better so it can be published.
> 
> So, please, I hope you enjoy and any actual critique is appreciated!

The night was chilly and damp from the long autumn rain from during the day; it hardly bothered the young woman though, she was always out during these kinds of nights it seemed. Jay Sterling looked down at the watch around her wrist, staring at the glowing blue face and nodded as she slowed her pace down to a slow stroll. She ducked easily into the upcoming forest, heading through an all familiar path to an old, gnarled and crooked tree, the only one in this patch of forest.

She walked casually up to the old tree, feeling an odd comfort fill her, even as she turned her head upon hearing footsteps crunching leaves. A person, a man only a few inches taller than herself, stepped up beside her, never turning to acknowledge her as he spoke, “Always punctual, huh, Jay.” his voice had a soft, deep sound, almost like trying to listen to campfire smoke.

She gave a crooked smirk as she turned to face him fully, “That’s the point of being a proficient Hunter, Trevor.” a soft chuckle bubbled out of her as he chuckled himself and turned to face her, allowing her to take in the ghostly pale skin of his face, marred only a single pink scar that ran across his lips, before she continued, “What do ya have for me anyways, old friend?”

He nodded slightly as he was taken aback as to why he was there to begin with; he fumbled in his pocket until he pulled out a slightly crumpled piece of lined paper and held it for her to take, “A person, who wants to stay anonymous until we meet up with them, came to me with a job I think. Since I don’t really do the jobs anymore, they allowed me to take down as much info as they would allow to pass onto you until you could meet them personally.”

Jay scrunched her nose a bit as she took the paper and opened it up, skimming over the writing, “Possible foul play… possible supernatural entity based on cause of death… what are you getting me into? This sounds like something for the actual police.”

Trevor held up his hands and shrugged, “Hey, I know it doesn’t look like much with what I wrote, but it seems up your alley. The body the person found was drained of blood, supposedly.”

“How was it drained though? That doesn’t rule out a plain old human killer.” she folded her arms across her chest as she stared at him for a few moments, her blue eyes trying to read more details for this whole story.

He shrugged and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket, “I honestly couldn’t tell ya, Jay. They never told me what the body actually looked like.”

She nodded slightly and rested her chin on her fingers in thought, soon shaking her head with a sigh, “I don’t like the look of this case, but I guess I have no choice.” she looked up at him and placed her hands on her hips before she continued talking, “Did you and the anonymous plan on a meet up, with or without me?”

Trevor nodded, “Yeah, we were going to meet back up where we first met tomorrow at dusk. So you don’t have to worry, I’ll be there with you.”

Jay rolled her eyes, “Thank you, let’s hope this isn’t just a serial killer looking to wrangle in a couple more victims.”

He plastered on a grim smile and wrapped his arm around her as he led her away from the tree, “Don’t worry, everything will be fine… hopefully. I’d suggest going and seeing your stony boyfriend before you leave.” he laughed loudly and genuinely as he dodged a punch to his arm.

She sighed and attempted to hide an involuntary twitch at the corner of her lips, getting a quick mental image of the figure he had referred to, “No, let’s go ahead and meet this anonymous client and get this over with.”

He nodded as they left, both of them getting a dark, squirmy feeling in the center of their bellies, having a feeling that this meeting was probably going to end up with blood on someone’s hands.

It took them half a day to travel to the meeting place Trevor told her about called Moonwood Shire, a quiet little town that was only a handful of streets altogether and buildings and people packed into each street.

‘A little cigarette town, this would be the wrong place to be a killer, that’s for sure.’ Jay thought to herself as she followed alongside Trevor, keeping her hands in her pockets, so that they would be in easy reach of her knives if she felt the need for them. Once they got to a somewhat quiet area of the farthest street, Jay pulled Trevor close so she could speak in a low, business-like voice, “Have you done any digging into this town?”

Trevor rubbed his chin slightly in thought and shook his head with a sheepish smile, “Nah, sorry. When I met the anonymous I was… um…” he coughed slightly, his cheeks starting to look like a deep crimson paint was being painted on his skin.

She rolled her eyes, knowing exactly what he was getting at, making her give him a stern look, “You never thought about looking into the town before finding me, after meeting the person?”

He shrugged and rubbed at the back of his neck, “Not really, I was trying to get back to you in time so we could get back here before dusk.”

She gave a soft sigh as she nodded, “Well, I can’t really get moody with ya then. And this doesn’t really seem like the place for a killer, human or not.” she watched him give a thoughtful nod, agreeing with her as he looked at his watch.

He popped his fingers slightly after checking the time and looked over at Jay, “You ready to get this done?” he watched her straighten herself, check for her knives before she nodded, allowing him to lead her back into the town.

They ended up coming to the town’s seemingly only and most crowded pub, making Jay look at Trevor with a stern and questioning look that made him fidget slightly before he led them in. The place was packed with sweaty and greasy bodies as they attempted to get to an open spot to look for their client. Trevor soon seemed to spot something and made an effort to get to it, making Jay pick up the pace and almost shove people out of her way so she could follow him.

After several minutes of fighting the crowd, they made it to one of the tables near the back of the pub. Jay almost stopped in her tracks, seeing someone already at the table; the person had long, rusty brown hair with two thin shocks of silver running from the temples. The person, who she could now see was a middle aged woman as she got closer, sported a simple sweater dress that seemed almost too baggy on her. The woman noticed them and nodded, making no move to get up and greet them as they sat down. Jay made a quick note of how anxious the woman seemed, jumping slightly at any loud noise the pub patrons made, rapidly tapping her nails on the table next to her drink.  
Trevor smiled at the woman, waving over at Jay without looking away, “Hello again, Miss Hazel. I hope you do remember me. This is my coworker, Jay, whom I mentioned yesterday.” Jay could tell he was layering on the charm, even ordering a few drinks for them, including a fresh one for her. After the drinks came up, he leaned forward enough and gave her one of his most dazzling smiles, “So, now that my coworker is here, would you be so kind as to give us more details on the job you have for us?”

His words and voice must have helped her relax slightly, with the help of her drink of course; she sighed and swallowed shallowly, never taking her eyes from the drink in her hands, her voice coming out as a raspy, croaked whisper, making both of them focus intently on her words, “I think there’s something evil in these hills and forests. And it’s killing almost everything.” her chest rose and fell noticeably, as if saying that was a chore or sparked some strange fear she could not describe.

Trevor gently placed his hand on hers, making her jump slightly, but not pull away. He smiled softly at her, “What kind of evil? What is it killing?”

The woman licked her lips, taking a sip of her drink, “I don’t know what the thing is, to be honest. It came around about a few months back, never did anything at the beginning. Then last month animals were turning up dead; stray animals, livestock, even wild animals. All dead, seemingly drained of blood, no actual wounds found, or if there are no one has said what it is.” she swallowed harshly, trying to fight back any fear that seemed to be building up, before she started speaking again, “Now, people are turning up dead that same way. Four people have been found dead on the nearest edge of the forest in the last two weeks. No one has seen this thing, no one’s heard it either. Only find the bodies.”

Trevor glanced over at Jay, seeing she was already deep in thought, trying to piece together what the mystery creature could be. He patted the woman’s hand, smiling at her again, “Thank you for the information, ma’am. Where do you live?”

She softly smiled back, seemingly exhausted, but relieved now, “I actually live in the hilly areas outside of town, between the town and forest, but with that creature out there, I’ve been here in town with one of my friends.”

He smiled kindly at her, “That’s always a smart idea in times like these. Is your friend here, or would you like an escort home?”

The woman shook her head, smiling softly at them, “Thank you for the offer, sir, but my friend is here, so you have nothing to worry about.” she turned her head a bit to look at the bar and smiled, “In fact, we probably should go ourselves.”

Trevor nodded as the three of them stood up, taking the woman’s hand and shaking it, “It was a pleasure to see you again, Hazel. And I can promise you, we will get everything taken care of so you can go back home safely.”

She smiled, “Thank you sir, that honestly means a lot to me.” she soon looked over at Jay, almost as is for the first time, and dug through her purse quickly. She soon grabbed Jay’s hand and placed something small and cold in it, “Ma’am… I can tell from your eyes that you can figure this whole mess out. I’m sure it won’t be a short venture. This is the key to my house, please use it as you see fit.”

Jay’s eyes widened slightly at the suddenness of the woman’s actions and the sudden determination in her voice; she could tell the woman wanted her to do what she had to do, no matter how long it took. She nodded, regaining her composer and gave the woman a small smile, “Don’t worry, Miss. That thing is as good as gone. Thank you for opening your home to me.” she watched the woman stare into her eyes for several seconds, then nod sharply and went off to her friend without another word. Jay looked down at her hand, an antique key with a raven shaped head laying in her palm; she shoved it into her pocket and started making her way out, hardly noticing if Trevor was following her or not.

She walked out, relieved to take in the cleaner smelling air as she went to the side and leaned on the wall. It was another five minutes before Trevor finally emerged, making her straighten herself up, “You needed a leak or something?”

He rolled his eyes at her teasing and walked with her down the road towards the forest and hills, “No, I was paying for the drinks and getting Hazel’s address so that we don’t wind up at the wrong house.”

She nodded, glad he tended to be quicker on finer details then she was. Jay absently ran her hand over her pocket to feel the key, “How far is the house suppose to be?”

“Not very far. About ten minutes of walking once we leave the town. Then the forest is another fifteen or twenty minutes past the house.” he replied, looking over as Jay nodded, tugging her jacket tighter as they left the town and started marching up through the hills.

He was right, it was roughly five minutes, maybe less, when they found the house; it was a worn out lavender colored cottage, with small flower bushes planted sporadically. Jay went up to the front door and pulled out the key; she fumbled a bit trying to get the key in, but soon managed to get it in, with the help of Trevor’s pocket flashlight he had, and went inside, turning the lights on. She looked around a bit, not really use to a fully decorated home. She turned her head when Trevor gave a cough as he started up a large cloud of dust. She rolled her eyes a bit and kept looking as she spoke, “Go ahead to the other side of town and get the truck. I have a feeling we’ll need everything.” she watched him nod and give a quick goodbye before he left and shut the door, leaving her alone to explore the house for a while.

The rest of the house was just as decorated as the room they first came into; furniture, picture frames on the walls and shelves, lamps, and silk plants. It was a comfortable little cottage though, especially for two or three people. Nothing really stood out to her as she went through the house, it was all basically the same things, all covered in dust. She stopped after a while, ‘Dust??? The lady wasn’t gone long enough for dust to have settled…’ Jay thought as she attempted to search her brain for clues from the conversation not even an hour ago. She could not piece together when the woman could have left, if humans were turning up dead only two weeks ago. She sighed softly and looked at one of the photographs closest to her as she waited for Trevor. She noticed there were five women in the photo; all dressed in various shades of autumn browns, lined up together like children in a class picture. She looked closer, none of the faces were clear to her, so she went and looked through all the photographs in the house, finding all of them were of the same five women.

She was in the main room, studying the photos when Trevor finally came back; he walked in casually and sat a grocery bag down on the floor before he took a seat on the nearby couch. She hardly looked up, glancing at the bag through her eyelashes, “Did you go to the store on your way back here?”  
He nodded and bent down to rummage through the bag, “Yeah, just got a few drinks and stuff to eat.” he noticed her concentration on the picture in her hands, making him raise an eyebrow as he walked over with a ginger ale in hand for her, “Did you find something interesting?”

She handed him the picture as she took the drink from him, opening it and took a swig, “Yeah, those five women, all of them are in every single picture in this whole house. There’s dozens of frames in the place.” she took another drink as he looked at her quizzically, allowing her to expand on her thoughts, “Another thing I noticed, they all wear browns, different shades.”

Trevor shrugged slightly and handed the picture back to her to put up, “Okay? That could be anything though. Maybe they all work together and brown is the uniform color or something.” he went back and heavily landed on the couch, motioning for Jay to finally have a seat, “What kind of things are going off in your head, Jay?”

Jay sighed slightly and sat on the loveseat close to him, “A lot of things honestly, but what’s standing out most, is they might be a type of cult.”

That made Trevor’s eyebrows rise and made him lean closer to her, “Cultists? What kind though?”

She shrugged, “That’s just it, I don’t know. There’s no clues in the photos, but there’s at least two bookshelves in each room that I went in, so there’s bound to be a clue there.” she got up and started for one of the bookshelves in the room, filing through various herb, garden, and recipe books.

Jay blinked a bit, taken aback by forgetting something, she turned to Trevor, who had since joined her in her search of the shelves, “There was another thing with the photos I noticed that you should know about.” she watched him turn from the shelf, his hand on a well used gardening book, nodding at her to continue; she grabbed a picture frame that was on the shelf next to her head and showed it to him, “The woman we spoke with, Hazel, is in none of the pictures.”

Trevor’s face knitted together as he took the picture and studied it, shaking his head, “You’re right, but that could just mean she was the one who took the photos.” he rubbed his chin in thought, Jay’s cultist theory sounding more logical by the minute. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, speaking softly to where Jay almost did not hear him, “But what kind of cultists would we be dealing with?”

Jay shook her head, her own voice coming out in a soft breath, “I don’t know, we can hook up the laptop and take a look at the newspaper, or wait until tomorrow and hunt down the coroner to find the bodies.” Jay felt a shiver start up her spine, a strange thrill starting to creep it’s way into her. She watched Trevor nod; the pulse in his neck was now visible as they kept searching, but unable to find anything out of the ordinary.

They soon agreed upon going back and having a quick meal before anything else, since they both knew action on empty stomachs were sure fire ways to get seriously hurt. As they left the room, Jay stopped, looking around; she started noticing a strange smell that smelt of sage and the all familiar coppery smell of blood. Her eyes soon landed on a small door, about the size of a closet door; she realized she had overlooked it during her original search of the house. She figured Trevor had noticed she stopped, her assumption was answered soon, “You find something?”

She slowly nodded, her hand smoothly moving to her knife as she started towards the door; her hand gripped the handle and twisted, letting the door swing open quietly. Her nose was bombarded by the sage and blood smells even more once she opened the door, revealing a concrete staircase; the stairs did not lead into pitch blackness as she thought they should, she noticed a pale light flickering around the room. Jay quickly turned her head to glance at Trevor, giving him a short nod before she started descending down the stairs. The room she came into was not really anything new, from what she could see of most of it, it was a common basement; there were hardly any furnishings or anything odd. What she did find was a large, round camping table, covered in black cloth, with a lit candle at the very center; the smells of sage and blood became almost unbearable once she came up to the table, seeing bowls of the items placed near the center of the table. Jay looked around at the table, seeing various tools and items; several bowls, animal bones, and several knives. She ran her hand along the table cloth, stopping quickly as she noticed a different texture on it. She leaned over to grab the candle and crouched down, looking at the cloth in the light; she saw an odd sigil painted repeatedly on the cloth, though she could not tell if it was painted in blood or actual paint. She narrowed her eyes a bit in concentration, pulling out her phone to take a photo of it so she could find it later.

Her eyes widened as she wiped around and raised her knife up, hearing someone rushing down the stairs. She lowered her hand when she saw it was Trevor, making her set the candle down. She saw his chest rise and fall quickly, as if he had been running, making her walk over to him, “You okay? What happened?”

Trevor panted slightly, swallowing a bit, “I went to go be look out while you were down here… there’s a stream of lights heading towards us. Six to be exact. I rushed through and turned all the lights off in the house.”

Jay felt her heartbeat rise, gripping her blade tightly, “What about the truck? Where did you park it?”

Trevor smiled crookedly, “Don’t worry, it’s just inside this side of town, in front of the hotel.”

She breathed out a soft sigh of relief, patting his shoulder, “Good thinking.” she soon jabbed her thumb towards the stairs, “Let’s get out of this room before those lights get here and find us in their stuff.” she watched him nod as they quickly made their way back upstairs, making sure the door was shut behind them.

It did not take Jay long to pick up on the sounds of people, mostly female voices, getting loud very quickly; she opened the nearest room and shoved Trevor in before she went in herself, shutting the door quickly as she started hearing the main door start to rattle as it was being unlocked and opened. Once the women were inside, she could make out that there were six different voices and they all were chanting in some old arcane language she hardly recognized. She pushed Trevor back as she backed away from the door, hearing the voices grow louder; she heard a door open and the voices started to grow faint, meaning they were going down into the basement.

Jay waited until she heard the soft click of the basement door before she snuck out of the room, Trevor close behind. She looked over at him and soon pointed to the window, whispering softly in his ear, “Go to the truck, I’ll be there as quickly as I can. Don’t argue with me, and use the window in the room we were in.” she watched him start to speak, but his mouth just popped shut again as he turned and went back into the room, making no motion to argue with her. Her attention soon went back to the door, the voices were starting up again, but not in the form of chanting this time. The women were starting to hold a ritual and speak to each other.

“Dearest Sister, did you bring tonight’s offering?”

“Aye, Sister.”

She could just make out the sound of someone rummaging through a sack of some kind, before the shrill calls of a raven filled the silent air, making Jay lean back in surprise. She soon heard the bird squawk again as someone gripped it tightly. The chanting soon started back up, softly and steadily growing louder as a voice called out over them, “Magic within our blood and bones, we seek to use the raven’s wings! Grant us this power!” her face turned into a grimace as she heard sickening breaking sounds as she assumed they mutilated the poor creature. The chanting started to turn into a steady roar, the voice getting louder, “We give praise unto you for bestowing the power of raven’s wings and raven's eyes to us! Now, sleek messenger of shadows, seek out our lost sister!”

Jay’s breath seemed to lock in her throat as she felt a strange wind blow through her. She turned her head and saw a transparent, ghostly raven staring at her. She felt her heart hammering against her ribs as it just stared at her; she quickly regained her senses as she heard footsteps coming up the stairs. She easily jumped to her feet and held her knife out as the door opened; her eyes widened as she stared at the woman from the pub, the same brown outfit the women wore in all the photos.

She grinned at her and stepped through the little doorway towards her, “Our lost sister. I knew you would be the one.”

Jay’s eyes narrowed, “Lost sister? Look, I don’t plan on being a part of your cult, lady. I’m just here to stop it.”

The woman laughed, “Oh, sweet sister, you don’t yet know what part you will play. That’s alright, all shall be revealed down below.” she reached out and grabbed Jay’s arm, starting to tug her back into the basement. The woman gave a loud, pained cry and quickly let go and grabbed her own arm, seeing a deep gash bloom from being cut; she glared at Jay, who was still clutching the bloodied knife defensively, “Dear sister, why do you make things difficult? You are of no use hurt or dead before the ceremonies.” she stretched her arm out again, offering Jay her hand; the wound on her arm instantaneously healing, making a spear of worry shoot through Jay.

She bared her teeth at the woman, and kicked her in the stomach, making her tumble down the stairs with a harsh cry. Jay quickly slammed the door shut and made a run for the main door, ready to get away from the group of women. She never heard anyone follow her, but she kept hearing the woman’s voice laugh in her head as she ran, ‘Don’t worry, Lost Sister, you’ll join us in due time.’ hearing the constant voice gave her an unfamiliar sense of fear, making her run harder. She ended up running so blindly that she practically ran face first into Trevor’s truck, causing her to land on her butt and pant heavily.

She barely noticed Trevor get out of the truck, startled himself, and rushed over to her, kneeling beside her. He started pulling her up to her feet, talking to her calmly as he went, “Jay, Jay, it’s me, Trevor. Come on, Sterling, come back to me, okay. You’re safe.”

Jay soon started to refocus on everything around her and returned to a somewhat normal state once she was properly on the truck and Trevor was in the driver’s seat. She swallowed roughly and coughed, her throat sore from the running and heavy breathing. She watched Trevor hold out a bottle of water towards her, “Don’t worry Jay, take your time, okay. There’s no need to strain yourself.” 

She took the bottle, giving a small nod and greedily drained the whole bottle, panting heavily. Jay sat the bottle down and leaned back farther into the seat, trying to relax her body, noticing Trevor glance over at her occasionally, “If ya don’t mind me prying already, but what the hell happened back there? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you spooked like that. Not since we were kids.”

She took a few gulps, trying to get her throat working right, as she attempted to reorganize her thoughts. Once she felt she was okay enough, Jay soon started telling him everything that happened once he left, thankful he never tried to interrupt her; soon enough, Jay sighed and rolled her head to the side, watching Trevor, “Now I probably have some sort of magic on me so they can track me all they want. And I still have no clue as to what they want, especially with me.” she rubbed her face, starting to feel exhausted, and pulled out her cell phone from her pocket, “But, on the Brightside, I at least have a photo of their sigil, so I can figure out what they want.”

“That’s a good idea, then we can figure out how to take them out, if we can.”

Jay slowly nodded, this strange sick feeling had started pooling in her insides, making her feel as if they were in even more danger than they normally were. She looked around outside, cocking an eyebrow as she turned back to Trevor, “We heading home?”

He nodded, hardly taking his eyes off the road, “Yeah that job was a bust anyways,” he quickly turned to her, giving her a crooked smile, “And I figured you’d feel better in familiar territory.”

She smiled back, reaching out to pat his shoulder, “Thank you, Trevor.”

He smiled at her, patting her hand in response, “Of course, Jay. You know I’m always lookin’ out for ya.” she chuckled weakly, pulling her knees up to her chest; she sighed as she looked out the window and let the silence lapse between them.

It was the early morning when Jay saw the all too familiar house they owned. Once they stopped, Jay was already unfastening herself when a set of keys were placed in her semi-opened hand. She looked up and saw Trevor nodding towards the house, “Head on inside, I’ll cover everything up in here and be there in a minute.” Jay slowly nodded as she gripped the keys tighter, sliding out of the truck. She inhaled deeply for a moment, taking in the calming atmosphere she knew so well.

It took her no time to get to the steps and porch, breathing softly as she went and unlocked the door; her heart seemed to miss a beat when she thought she heard the faint flapping of bird wings, making her walk through the door quicker than she wanted.

The house was slightly chilly, since they preferred keeping everything off when they both were gone. She started flipping on the lights as she went through the house; the harsh shadows falling at the soft lights. She wandered back to the main room as Trevor finally came in, quickly making a beeline towards the hall behind her. She laughed softly as she draped herself across the worn out couch, sinking into the soft suede. Jay sighed quietly, hardly hearing Trevor come back, starting to slip into a restless sleep.


	2. Ch. 2

Jay’s eyes snapped open, startled by a bird smacking against the window and giving a loud and sharp tweet. She slumped back against the couch, willing her heart rate to drop; she quickly realized that it was still early morning, since the sun was just starting to rise and turn the sky lavender and blue. Jay shrugged off the blanket she had as she stretched, feeling her back and shoulders pop. She looked around the room before she stood up, “Trevor must be asleep in his own bed.” she mumbled as she made her way to her own room, looking to fix her messy hair. She simply brushed through it and redid her ponytail, leaving it out of the long cloth she almost always had it in.  
As she passed Trevor’s room, she heard a loud snore through the closed door, making her chuckle; she pulled her phone out, typing out a quick message, before she left the house. She had sent the message numerous times before, it was practically second nature to send it; so she at least knew Trevor would not freak out that she was gone. She was lucky that he understood how much she needed her own quiet place, her own sanctuary, and that field was hers.

The field in question was a small meadow, full of clover and wildflowers, nothing really special about it. But what was unique about this meadow was that there was a lone statue, a rather plain granite statue of an old warrior; she never did much research on what type of warrior he was, but she had a feeling it was of a warrior by his weapons. She never knew how it got there, not even any locals knew how it got there, it was just always there. Jay did not pay much mind to it though, since being in the field with the statue always made her feel safe, like she could let herself be vulnerable and have no worries. She always came to the field when she needed to be alone, or after jobs; she discovered that talking to the statue helped her clear her head and figure out the answers to questions that would end up plaguing her.

Today was no different, she needed to go to her place and figure things out. She arrived at the field once the sky was a clear and bright blue and the sun was properly up; the air had warmed slightly, but stayed a nice and comfortable cool. A smile made its way to her lips once she spotted the statue, the familiar face seeming to leer down at her. She wrapped her arms around herself as a gust of wind decided to cut through her, making her hair dance around her as well; she pushed her hair back once she got up close to the statue, her arms still tightly wrapped, “Hey, it’s good to see ya today. I need some help sorting stuff out. If you’re willing to lend an ear.” she softly chuckled as she turned around and sat down, leaning against the statue. Jay soon starting talking about the job and what she saw and witnessed and how she ended up feeling before falling asleep earlier; she sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, loosening it a bit from the ponytail, soon speaking softly, almost sadly, “I don’t know what to do, if I can be honest. I don’t deal with magick or witches or cults or anything like that. I always deal with things that prefer to eat me with teeth, not curse me or use me as a sacrifice. I’m so out of my comfort zone, I don’t even know how to react…”

She looked up towards the statue’s face, sighing softly as she placed her chin in her hands, “I know you’re not use to hearing me sound like that, but it’s true, I don’t know how to deal with this, it’s a completely new thing for me.” she leaned back against the legs of the statue, letting her shoulders sink. Jay closed her eyes, letting the sounds all around her fill her mind; her mind started to calm down and realign itself, letting her start to think a bit clearer. Her eyes started to flutter open after several minutes, snapping wide when she saw something in the field. She stood up, feeling the wind start to kick up roughly, and never took her eyes off the figure; she noticed it was an undefined black mass, slowly approaching and taking a more human shape as it approached. Jay reached down to her side for a knife and started to panic, realizing she always left her knives at the house when she came to the field. She looked around for something to use, but could not find anything; she ended up pressing her back against the statue and tightening the muscles in her legs, ready to spring at the figure. If she was going to fight, it would have to be bare handed.

The figure started to get closer, solidifying into the shape of a woman; it stopped a few feet from Jay, making her notice it looked like the same woman from the other town, Hazel. Jay’s heart stopped and turned cold as the figure began to laugh, “Oh, Lost Sister, I told you that you could not hide nor run from us. We need you, the Raven’s Moon will be upon us soon.” she attempted to get closer, opening her arms wide as if to hug her, then one of the strangest things Jay had ever witnessed happened.

The woman was only a few steps away from her when her face morphed into some strange terrified scream, even though no noise came from her. She backed away quickly, never taking her eyes from the statue behind Jay. She soon began shrieking, startling Jay visibly, “NO! The wolf’s son was not supposed to have been discovered! Not by you, Lost Sister!” the woman soon started to vanish into the air, still screaming.

Jay pressed her hand to her chest, feeling how painfully fast her heart was racing; she looked up at the statue, giving a weak laugh, “Looks like you saved me. I hope I can do the same for you one day.” she pressed her hand that had been over her heart onto the statue’s own chest, giving an almost invisible smile. Her eyes widened as she started hearing the distinct sound of cracking rock, followed by watching cracks appearing on the statue from where her hand was. She stepped back a couple of paces, panicking that the woman had destroyed the statue somehow; her panic was almost immediately replaced with curiosity as bits of stone started to drop away and reveal what looked to be flesh. The stone on the face soon started to crack and break off, revealing more flesh, and a pair of intense green eyes.

It was mere seconds for the rest of the stone to start falling as the man flexed and stretched, almost as if he had been asleep for only hours. He turned to look at her, it felt like he was peering into her soul with his eyes; he soon attempted to speak, his mouth opening and moving, but he started talking in an old language that Jay had never heard before, the rough and gravelly sound of his voice did not help. He became more animated as he tried to talk to her, grabbing her hands and speaking excitedly to her; she gripped his hands back and tried to calm him down, trying to talk to him like she would a client, “Sir, please, I don’t understand what you’re saying. I don’t speak your language.” she watched him come to a complete stop, looking almost sorrowful at her, making her chest tighten. Jay patted his shoulder, giving him a smile, “It seems you understand what I’m saying perfectly though. Let’s go back to my place, I can feed ya and clean ya up there. It would also be safer.” Jay gently tugged on him to make him follow her, glad he moved easily. ‘I need to explain this to Trevor and figure out what to do with this guy.’ she thought, noticing whenever he would start inching closer to her as they walked.

It was noon by the time she got back, the man soon darted into the house and into the main room, looking around. She chuckled softly at his child-like wonder, making him stop and look at her for a few moments; she sighed and went to Trevor’s door, knocking, “Hey, Trevor, I’m home, you got a minute?”

She heard the familiar scrape of wheels on the hardwood and quick footsteps, Trevor’s messy hair and face poking out of the door at her, “Yes? What can I help you with?”

She rolled her eyes and nodded towards the main room, “I’ve got something you may want to see and help decide on.”

Trevor looked at her oddly as he stepped out of his room, watching her go down the hall. He jerked slightly when he started hearing sounds coming from the main room; he looked at Jay, seeing that she wasn’t bothered at all, it felt stranger to him the closer he got to the main room. He stopped, his eyes almost popping out of his head, seeing a strange, almost ancient warrior-like man, crouched in front of one of their bookshelves; he looked over at Jay, seeing her shrug. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, barely noticing the man stop to look at him; he walked closer to Jay, his eyebrows raised, “He what you wanted to show me?”

She nodded, lifting her arms up and undoing her ponytail, “Yes, he is, Trevor. I need your help figuring out what to do with him.”

Trevor gave her a shocked expression as he went to sit on the couch, “What to do with him? Jay, I don’t even know where you picked him up? Explain that to me first at least.”  
Jay shrugged and sat on the chair near the couch, starting to tell him everything that happened that morning. She leaned back in her seat once she was finally done, watching his face; she watched his mouth flap around a bit, trying to make words, but kept failing. She shrugged again, leaning against the arm of the chair as she spoke again, “And so, I need your help on figuring out what to do with him.”

Trevor rubbed his face, still finding it hard to wrap his mind around all Jay had said. He looked over at her, then over at the warrior before his eyes went back to her, “Alright, he's going to have to stay with us. Cause we still don’t know what to do with the witch coven. And if the one reacted to him like you said, they’ll probably be after him too soon.”

Jay nodded, feeling an odd sense of relief seep into her chest that the man would be under their care. She easily shrugged it off and looked over at the man, who had went and sat on their coffee table during her telling of what happened that morning; she smiled at him, seeing he was staring at her, “You want to go ahead and get clean? You’ll probably feel better too.”

The man looked down at himself, seeming to finally notice all the dirt and dust. He seemed to blush faintly in embarrassment as he nodded.

Jay got up, the warrior getting up soon after, and made their way down the hall; she soon stopped and looked back at Trevor, “While I’m cleaning him up, find him some clothes please. Something not too ragged and worn so I can go and get him some proper clothes later.” she heard him groan loudly as she led the warrior back towards the bathroom. The bathroom was surprisingly large for the house, it was roughly the size of one of the bedrooms, but lined with pale green tiles and matching wallpaper; a large modern tub was placed in the far corner, keeping the room spacious and easy to move in.

She moved over to the tub and started up the water, slipping her own t-shirt off so that she was in a tank top. Jay turned to look at the man and nodded at him, “You can go ahead and start getting undressed. The water should be warm enough shortly.” She noticed him get a flustered face, making her roll her eyes as she decided to put her hair back up, “Look, I’m pretty sure you don’t have anything I haven’t seen before, you’re fine, okay. Nothing’s going to happen to ya.” that seemed to help the man relax a bit, enough for him to actually start undressing. She kept herself busy to let him stay comfortable, so she made sure to go ahead and get her soap and shampoo out and ready.  
She heard a soft grunt, making her turn her head and see that the man was finally fully bare to her; she nodded at him to step into the tub, “The water is just warm, so you should be comfortable enough.” she watched him nod as he carefully slid into the water, sitting down until he was submerged up to his ribs. Jay pursed her lips a bit as she looked him over and her eyes landed on his hair, it was shoulder-length and filled with thickly woven mats; she moved to his side, making him look up at her, “Hey, do you mind if I cut your hair? Your hair is really matted and won’t be cleaned properly unless I cut it.”

He seemed to consider it for a long while, staring into her eyes the whole time. He soon nodded, almost startling her as he started to speak, “I will allow you to cut my hair.” his voice was still extremely rough sounding, but seemed smoother at the same time.

Jay blinked stupidly at him for several moments, almost completely lost for words, “You… you can speak English?”

The man nodded, “Yes, I was taught by the priest from the small village that was nearby. He would bring children to teach to speak in English.”

She felt completely dumb for not having asked earlier, but she was too caught up in trying to wrap her head around everything else that has been thrown at her lately anyways. She shook her head roughly, clearing her head up slightly, as she got up and started looking for a pair of scissors. Once she found a pair in the small cabinet near the sink, she walked back over and sat on the edge of the tub, “You clean?” she watched him nod, making her start rolling her pant legs up before she slid her feet and legs into the tub on the man’s sides. The man turned around to look at her, looking confused; she patted his shoulder and smiled, “Don’t worry, this is just an easier way to cut your hair, unless you want to get out of the water and sit in the floor. That might be a little too cold for ya though.” she watched him nod and turn back around, backing up closer to her so she had better access to his hair.

She ran her fingers through the thick hair on his head, making sure it was thoroughly wet; when she was satisfied that it was wet enough she grabbed a large mat from the top of his head and snipped it off easily. Jay soon started clipping off the rest of the mats of hair, leaving an extremely uneven, shaggy head of hair; she vaguely thought he was attractive with the almost wild, shaggy look. She shook her head, trying to keep her mind from wandering back to those types of thoughts, soon going back to the task of cutting the hair under her fingers. After what seemed like close to an hour, Jay leaned back to look at her handy work, nodding to herself, “Alright, you want to turn so I can get to your face or should I move in front of you?” she did not have time to get a response as he quickly got up and turned around to fully face her before he sat back down. She soon dunked her hand into the water before she placed his shaggy and lopsided bangs in her hands and started clipping; she chewed her lip in concentration, trying her best to make sure she did not clip him accidentally.

After a few moments she leaned back, half-smiling at herself at her handy work, “Well, that should do it. Do ya like how it feels?” she noticed him staring at her intensely, his eyes seeming to pierce right through her; she was glad that his attention soon turned to his hair, him running his hands through it.

The man soon nodded, smiling at her, “I like it, thank you, Jay.”

Her eyes widened greatly, not expecting him to know her name; she leaned forward a bit, staring into his eyes, “How do you know my name?”

His gaze matched hers and never broke, them both seeming enchanted by the other; he soon remembered to respond, his voice coming out raspy, “You told me before, when we first met.”

Jay’s eyes narrowed, an odd coldness starting to slither into her gut, “I never told you my name.”

He leaned back a bit, his own eyes narrowing at her sudden low voice; his voice matched hers in intensity, almost making her shiver, “I am no liar. You did tell me your name, many years ago, when you first started visiting me.”

Her eyes widened again when he spoke, making her remember that she did tell him her name, but when he was a statue. She leaned back and stared at him, “So… you were alive that whole time? Just trapped in stone?”

He nodded, his face softening when hers did, “Yes, I have been like that for many centuries.”

Jay absently nodded, starting to climb out of the tub and put the shampoo next to him, “So, you’ve watched this whole area change…” she trailed off a bit. She noticed him staring between her and the bottle and she motioned with her hands in her hair, “You squeeze it out of the bottle and put it in your hair, it cleans it.” she was still amazed at the thought of meeting someone who actually lived for thousands of years, that was not a vampire at least. She smacked her own face slightly, chuckling softly, “I feel rude now. You know my name, but I never asked for yours.”

The man laughed, a loud and hearty laugh, like you had just told someone a really funny joke. He leaned back and dunked his head into the water, starting to get the shampoo out, “I feel rude as well, since I did not introduce myself to begin with.” he soon sat up, water starting to run down his face as he stood up and stepped out of the water, accepting the towel Jay had in her hands; he smiled once he was dried off and had the towel around his waist, “My name is Caden,” he bowed at her, smiling when he straightened back up, “It is a pleasure to finally speak to you.”

Jay smiled back, slowly feeling her cheeks grow warm, “It’s a pleasure talk with you too. Now that you’re not a statue and can talk back.” she chuckled and patted his arm, nodding towards the door, “Come on, Trevor should have some clothes for ya by now. Let’s get you dressed.” she led him out and towards her own room. She led him in, watching him look around the room in curiosity, making her chuckle, “Have a seat, I’ll be right back, okay.”

Jay soon made it to Trevor’s room and knocked, hearing him get up and walk to the door. He soon opened the door and held out a set of clothes, “He doesn’t have to give the pants back, I never wore them to begin with.”

Jay nodded, clutching the clothes, “Alright, thanks, Trevor. I really appreciate you helping out.” 

He waved her on, “It’s not a problem. I hope they fit properly.”

She nodded, soon making her way back to her room. Once she arrived, clothes in her arms, she knocked on the door and walked in, “Hey, I brought you the clothes.” she smiled slightly when she watched him jump, possibly startling him from whatever he was looking at. Jay tossed the clothes onto the bed, turning so her back was to him, “I’ll be outside the door, come out when you’re done or call if you need help.” She did not give him time to answer before she stepped out and shut the door, giving him some privacy.

After several minutes the door opened, making Jay stand up as Caden walked out; the pants seemed tight on him, but the shirt hung loosely around his neck and shoulders from being worn for many years. He fidgeted with his hair and the shirt, looking sheepishly at her, “How do I look?”

She smiled and patted his shoulder, “You look fine, though those pants seem too tight on ya. You want to go get some better fitting ones today or are you okay for now?”Jay watched him roll his shoulders in an attempt to shrug, his arms clumsily flailing a bit at his sides. She chuckled, leaning her back against the wall, “It might be best to get you at least one pair today. You want to come with me or do you want to explore the house?”

His eyes seemed to light up, the thought of exploring something so new to him, that belonged to a warrior like him, he started to feel excitement at the thought. He nodded, taking her hands in his, “I would be honored to be allowed to learn about such a great warrior as you.”

Jay’s eyes widened at his exclamation, feeling her cheeks get warm; she never really told people about her profession, so she never got any compliments nor got called a warrior. She smiled, finding herself enjoying her hands in his, “I take it you want to stay and explore the house?” she watched him nod, his hair bouncing wildly, “Alright, I won’t take long then, alright.” after they finally pulled their hands apart she slipped into her room and slipped her wallet into her pocket along with a small knife. She smiled and patted Caden’s arm as she walked by; she poked her head into Trevor’s room, “I’m going to the store, you need anything?” she watched him shake his head, making her tap the wall in response and head towards the front door and out into the bright light.


	3. Ch. 3

Caden wasted no time ducking back into Jay’s room, having watched her leave the house before he went back in. He felt compelled to attempt to learn more about her through what she owned; he hardly found more then when he was previously searching. All he seemed to find was clothing, which seemed scarce in itself to him. Growing bored, he ventured out and wandered down the hall, noticing a closed door nearby. The door was plain like all the other doors in the house, made of smooth dark wood with a plain brass knob; he felt a strange sensation drawing him to it. Caden pressed his palm to the wood, slightly surprised by the smooth coldness of it; his hand slid down to the knob, almost drawing his hand back at the shock of sharp cold. He fumbled with it, not really knowing how to work it; a minute or two later, he finally managed to work the knob properly, letting the door swing open before him.

The room was a reasonable size, a little smaller than Jay’s room, give or take a few inches. His eyes gazed around, taking in the numerous weapons on display; swords and daggers lined the walls, sectioned into groups he did not fully understand. Caden wandered over to a small wardrobe on one of the far walls; there were not any doors on it, so he was able to see rows of firearms, from automatic rifles and pistols to shotguns and assault rifles.

“I see you’ve found our armory.” Caden wiped around quickly, instinctively reaching out for a short sword on the nearby wall. He watched the man in the doorway laugh, making him feel wary. He steadily watched the man walk in towards him, his arm extending towards him, “You’re as jumpy as Jay is. My name is Trevor, you’re safe around me.”

Caden stared at him, letting out a breath he did not know he had inhaled. He put the sword back in its place on the wall, his gaze never leaving Trevor. He took his hand, starting to smile as they shook hands, clasping his forearm as well; when they let go of each other’s arms, Caden looked around again before he settled back on Trevor, “Are you a warrior, like Jay?”

Trevor blinked a bit, not expecting him to speak in English; he shook his head, smiling at him, “Not anymore at least. I’m still in the game though, but only to help Jay if and when she needs it.” With a quick turn on his heels, Trevor left the room, motioning for Caden to follow.

He shut the door once they both were out, looking at Caden when he started to talk, “So, Jay explained everything about how you came to us. Though, I don’t think she actually explained what you are.”

Caden tilted his head slightly, “What do you mean? I am a warrior like you are.”

“Yes, yes, I know that, I could tell that just by how you hold yourself and your weapons.” he waved his hand at him before he folded his arms across his chest, “What I mean is, WHAT are you. You’re not human, that’s for damn sure.”

Caden’s eyes widened and got close to Trevor’s face, whispering quickly, “You can tell I am not mortal? How can you tell?!”

Trevor shrugged and leaned back a bit, “Of course I could tell you’re not human, I’m sure Jay could too. We’re not Hunters for nothing. Hell, we wouldn’t be alive if we couldn’t tell mortal from immortal.”

Caden started to feel slightly uneasy, swallowing shallowly, “What do you hunt?”

He clapped Caden on the back, smiling at him, “We hunt what goes bump in the night. And don’t worry, you’re safe with us. If Jay didn’t already kill ya, you must be good.” Caden felt his muscles tense up, the uneasy feeling getting more noticeable; Trevor must have picked up on it, soon patting Caden’s back again, “Hey, relax, we also know when to kill and you’re on the do not kill list. We won’t harm ya.”

Caden did not reply, simply taking to staring at him; they both raised their heads at the sound of a door opening and closing, Jay’s voice ringing out soon after, “Caden, Trevor, I’m home.”

They both walked out into the main room, greeting her; Trevor patted her shoulder, “Welcome back, you have a successful trip?”

Jay nodded, her ponytail bouncing as she handed the bag over to Caden, who tensed up slightly when the bag was thrust at him; she smiled crookedly, “Don’t worry, Caden, it’s the pants I said I’d get ya. They’re a size bigger than what you have on now, so they should fit properly. You can go try them on if you’d like.” she watched him nod and wander off down the hall; Jay turned to look at Trevor and raised an eyebrow at him, whispering, “What did you do? Why is he so tense and wary?”

Trevor shrugged and held his hands up, seeing Jay start glaring at him, “I don’t know, honestly. All I said was that I knew he was inhuman and I told him what kind of hunters we were. Then he started getting defensive like that.”

Jay sighed and rubbed her face, feeling like she wanted to punch Trevor, “That was a bad idea, Trevor. For all we know he probably thinks we’ll end up killing him soon. We don’t need him being defensive.”

Trevor folded his arms, tilting his head as he watched her, “What if we have to at some point? Like once we figure out his past and why he got turned into a statue?”

She shook her head, “I understand your position, Trevor, but I’m sure he’s fine. That witch seemed disturbed by him anyways, so he could possibly be helpful in this job.”

Trevor smirked slightly, “You fancy him, don’t ya? It is understandable, since he was the same statue you constantly spilt your heart out to.” his smirk got wider as he watched her eyes narrow and darken, almost like watching a light switch get flipped.

She felt her blood start pounding as she clenched her hands into tight fists, glaring sharply at him, “Look, I don’t give a damn what you say, but let’s focus on this job you dragged me into. We have a coven of witches, almost two towns over, killing people. They need to be stopped.”

He held his hands up in defeat and nodded, “Yeah, yeah, you’re right. And let’s not forget they want to recruit you.” he motioned for her to follow him as they went to his room; he motioned for her to take a seat on his bed as he plopped himself in the chair in front of his computer, “I tried to research that symbol you took a picture of and sent me, but I couldn’t find a thing on it.” he showed her the enhanced and cleaner version of the photo she took of the witch’s table. He leaned back in his seat and shrugged, “There’s a couple of things that come to mind when this happens. One, the coven is extremely new age to the point where they simply hodge podged symbols from anything for their own use. Or, two, these are extremely ancient and dangerous witches who were never recorded.”

Jay rubbed her chin in thought, trying to make sense of everything; she lifted her head when she heard footsteps, watching Caden enter the doorway and watch them for a few moments. She smiled at him and motioned for him to come in, “I’m glad those fit well. Do you mind helping us?” he gave her a confused expression as he sat next to her, making her nod towards Trevor’s computer. “Yesterday, Trevor took me to a small town called Moonwood Shire to try and pick up a job. It seemed like a simple enough job of figuring out what was killing people in the nearby woods.” she noticed him watching her intently, paying close attention to what she was saying; she sighed and looked over at the computer screen again, “It turned out that we had stumbled upon a small coven of witches, using the blood of their victims in some ritual. The woman we had contacted originally seems to be the leader. And they had that symbol painted all over their table and ritual items.”

Caden nodded slightly, “What do you wish me to do then?”

Jay shrugged, “Tell us what you know of those witches, if you know anything of them. The head witch knew you.”

“I am not sure what help I can be to you. I do not know this witch in particular, but… I do know that symbol.” he licked his lips slightly, his gaze shifting between Jay and the computer, noticing Jay watching him intensely, “That coven of witches is deadly and only after one goal. They want the world to fall into darkness and to reign supreme over it all.”

“Okay, we deal with that sort of thing regularly, what makes them different?”

“They intend to enlist the help of demons.”


End file.
